{"id":397799,"date":"2026-04-14T11:09:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T11:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/397799\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T11:09:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T11:09:07","slug":"jesse-sludds-named-second-opening-act-finalist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/397799\/","title":{"rendered":"Jesse Sludds named second Opening Act finalist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Singer Jesse Sludds has been announced as the second finalist set to compete on The Late Late Show Opening Act this week.<\/p>\n

The Wexford man is one of five performers who will perform live on the first-ever The Late Late Show Opening Act on Friday 17 April on RT\u00c9 One and RT\u00c9 Player.<\/p>\n

Each act is in with a chance of winning the opportunity to open for Grammy-winner Shania Twain when she takes to the stage at Thomond Park in Limerick this July. The winner will also secure a spot on the annual Late Late Show Country Special, presented by Patrick Kielty, later this year.<\/p>\n

Sludds was revealed as the second contestant on Today with David McCullagh on RT\u00c9 Radio 1 this morning. Paddy Treacy was announced as the first finalist on Monday.<\/a><\/p>\n

Speaking about the opportunity, Sludds said he was excited to perform in front of a wider audience and connect with new people.<\/p>\n

“It’s a huge platform,” he said. “Of course, there are nerves; it\u2019s a big stage, but I think that just shows how much it means to me.”<\/p>\n

He also said country music is resonating with audiences because of its honesty and storytelling.<\/p>\n

“I think country music is having a moment because it\u2019s real,” he said. “It tells stories people have actually lived, love, heartbreak, growing up, and everything in between.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s also evolving and blending with other genres, which is bringing in new audiences while keeping its roots.”<\/p>\n

Three further hopefuls will be unveiled on Today with David McCullagh on RT\u00c9 Radio 1, between 9am and 11am, each morning this week.<\/p>\n

The five finalists will compete on The Late Late Show Opening Act on Friday 17 April at 9.35pm on RT\u00c9 One and RT\u00c9 Player.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Singer Jesse Sludds has been announced as the second finalist set to compete on The Late Late Show…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397800,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[93,61,60,282],"class_list":["post-397799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}